1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to bed skirts and dust ruffles generally, and more particularly to a single-piece bed skirt having fastenable corners, that can be easily inserted between an upper mattress and a lower mattress without having to completely or partially remove the upper mattress, and once inserted, will stay in place.
2. Preliminary Discussion
Bed skirts and dust ruffles are both practical and aesthetically enhancing. Bed skirts assist in preventing dust and other foreign objects from invading and settling beneath a bed. They also hide items that may be stored or otherwise placed beneath a bed, and are usually decorated to match the owner's comforter or blanket to create the appearance of an extension of such comforter or blanket.
The conventional bed skirt comprises a flat, basically rectangular sheet of cloth positionable between an upper and a lower mattress having a border of material extending downwardly along the sides and foot of such lower mattress from the edges of such sheet of cloth, which supports the downwardly extending material or skirts. The skirt, or downwardly extending material, is usually ruffled and decorated to match the original bed clothes. The supporting sheet is usually dimensioned to fit over a conventional lower mattress or box spring, such that the edges of the supporting sheet are flush with the mattress enabling the skirt section to merely hang downwardly from the sides of such supporting sheet.
The supporting sheet section of a conventional bed skirt must be placed directly onto the upper surface of a lower mattress in order to properly position the skirt portion along the perimeter or partial perimeter of a bed. Placement of the supporting sheet onto the lower mattress and subsequent adjustment of such supporting sheet usually requires the complete removal of the upper mattress, a task easily accomplished by only the very able-bodied. Manipulation of a mattress for placement or removal of a bed skirt can be challenging even for the very able-bodied, particularly if the mattress is queen-or king-sized. The requirement for removing, or removal of, the top mattress can make cleaning a bed skirt a chore, and may even completely deter its use altogether.
Ideally, a bed skirt should be easy to insert between an upper and lower mattress, easy to adjust once inserted and easy to remove for replacing, cleaning or the like. There is a need, therefore, to provide a bed skirt capable of easy insertion, adjustment and removal. The prior art has attempted to address this particular problem, but for numerous reasons, not all of which are clear, such prior art has not met with significant commercial success.
3. Description of Related Art
The evolution within the prior art of bed skirts has been somewhat unremarkable. One of the earliest references to address this type of product is U.S. Pat. No. 1,421,028 issued to W. J. Rimmington on Jun. 27, 1922, entitled "Mattress," which discloses a valance sewn into the middle of a mattress. The Rimmington valance is quite invasive, and requires the permanent attachment of such valance onto the mattress. As with conventional designs employing a top supporting sheet with an extending perimeter skirt, it would be preferable if the valance or bed skirt were completely separate and disconnected from the mattresses.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,763,875 issued to G. A. Piontkowski on Sep. 25, 1956, entitled "Decorative Valances," discloses removably attachable valance sections joined, or attached, to a box spring by a piece of tape having snap fasteners positioned upon a special box spring cover. The Piontkowski valance requires the removal of the upper mattress for the initial placement of the special box spring cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,233 issued to M. Morris on Dec. 28, 1976, entitled "Dust Ruffle," discloses a center-less dust ruffle extendable, in one embodiment, about the entire perimeter of a lower mattress. The Morris dust ruffle includes fixed, mitred corners, which require the user to initially position the ruffle in its entirety around the bed, without enabling the user to insert and/or remove the ruffle one side at a time. The fixed, mitred corners also prevent the user from altering the position of one side of the ruffle without similarly affecting the other sides.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,097 issued to R. Levinsohn et al. on Feb. 27, 1979, entitled "Dust Ruffle," discloses an elastic perimeter band comprising strips sandwichable between an upper and lower mattress. Similar to the Morris reference, the Levinsohn et al. bed skirt lacks a center sheet, but also lacks the flexibility to maneuver each skirt piece independent of the skirt as a whole.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,683 issued to R. Gardiner on May 13, 1986, entitled "Zip-On Zip-Off Dust Ruffle," discloses a dust ruffle attached to a box spring cover member by way of a perimeter zipper fastener. The cover member must be pre-attached to the box spring or lower mattress and does, therefore, not provide for effortless or easy attachment of the dust ruffle to the bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,796,317 issued R. Kallman et al. on Jan. 10, 1989, entitled "Dust Ruffles for a Bed," discloses a center-less dust ruffle attachable to a box spring or lower mattress via pre-placed fasteners positioned along the edges of such box spring or lower mattress. The Kallman system requires the protrusion of sharp objects into the box spring or lower mattress to keep the dust ruffles in place. The present inventor feels it would be preferable if the valance or bed skirt were completely separate and disconnected from the mattresses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,316 issued to G. R. Whipple on Feb. 28, 1989, entitled "Dust Ruffle," discloses another center-less dust ruffle comprising integrally connected panel segments. Strip-like seams are used to position and/or reorient placement of the dust ruffle after it has been inserted between the mattress and box spring or lower mattress.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,003 issued to J. E. Green on Apr. 27, 1993, entitled "Releasable Dust Ruffle Arrangement," discloses a box spring cover having two rows of Velcro.RTM.-like tabs along the side of the cover for releasable attachment of two sets of dust ruffle covers. The box spring cover must be pre-attached to the box spring or lower mattress and does, therefore, not provide for effortless or easy attachment of the dust ruffle to the bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,112 issued to S. J. Bible on Dec. 21, 1993 entitled "Elastic Bed Ruffle," discloses an elastic, unitary piece of material designed to extend over the upper and lower perimeter of a box spring or lower mattress. The Bible bed ruffle must be stretched over the upper and lower mattresses, and may not be easily inserted between such mattresses one side at a time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,931 issued to S. Hamilton on Apr. 22, 1997, entitled "Mattress Stabilizing Bedskirt Assembly having Detachably Attachable Skirt Components," discloses a non-slip grip deck comprised of a non-slip fabric having releasable or detachable fasteners located around the perimeter of the fabric for the mating or cooperation with dust ruffle panels having similar attachment means. The grip deck must be pre-attached to the box spring or lower mattress and does, therefore, not provide for effortless or easy attachment of the dust ruffle as a whole to the bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,562 issued to J. F. Masoncup on Jun. 17, 1997, entitled "Bed Cover Structure with an Improved Dust Ruffle," discloses a fitted upper mattress cover having elongated side extensions with attachment means for cooperating with similar attachment means on a dust ruffle piece placed between the upper and lower mattresses.
One of the most recent contributions to the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,553 issued to D. Baron et al. on Feb. 10, 1998, entitled "Bed Skirt," which discloses a Velcro.RTM.-type strip pre-attached to a box spring for cooperation with dust ruffle sections having mating Velcro.RTM. strips adhered thereto. The Baron bed skirt, along with some of the other references discussed above, requires the user to prepare the existing bedding environment prior to insertion or implementation of the actual bed skirt.
This extra step of preparing the lower mattress or box spring with special attachment means, whether it be a strip of Velcro.RTM. or an entire sheet fitted with cooperating attachment members, may tend to complicate matters enough to deter the use of such bed skirt. For example, if the box spring had to be fitted with a special sheet prior to placement of the bed skirt, then such sheet would, in addition to the bed skirt, have to be applied and removed if the owner wished to wash such sheet at the same time as the other bed clothes, including the bed skirt.
The prior art also includes some bed skirts that are generally of a one piece construction, but without a center, and tend to simulate a fitted sheet requiring the owner to essentially "fit", as opposed to "insert" the bed skirt about the perimeter of a bed. Most of these one piece bed skirts further comprise elastic material or perimeter seams, which may tend to further complicate the application and removal of the bed skirt, particularly if the bedding is somewhat large and deep.
The present inventor, after years of frustration and aggravation dealing with bed skirts available in the market, perceived a need to design a bed skirt assembly having elements or components addressing the features of easy insertability, adjustment and removal. Such bed skirt should be preferably a one piece construction, should not require the preparation or pretreatment of the upper or lower mattress, and should not require any strain exertion on the part of the user, as is normally required, for example, during application of an elastic-based fitted sheet onto a mattress. Such bed skirt should also be easily inserted and removed from between the upper and lower mattress without removal of the upper mattress at any time during the process.